Peter Rasini

Peter Rasini was shot with a .45 calibre pistol on the path outside his home in River Avenue, Palmers Green.

He was an antiques dealer and had a stall in a shop, Alfie’s Antique Market, in Church Street in Paddington, not far from Marble Arch, where he sold antiques. He had been trading for about 20 years. Another dealer that knew him said that he thought that Peter Rasini preferred buying than selling.

On Friday 22 March 1991 at about 10.30pm, a neighbour said that he saw two men sitting in a white van in Oak Tree Road in Palmers Green at the corner of Green Lanes, about 200 yards from where Peter Rasini lived.

Then, the following night, Saturday 23 March 1991, another neighbour saw a different van in the same spot at about 9.30pm. However, the neighbour said that a man then got out of the van and headed off towards Green Lanes and that the van then drove off, at first without its lights on.

Another antiques dealer that had known Peter Rasini for 20 years, said that he last saw Peter Rasini on the Sunday 24 March 1991, the day he was murdered, at about 6.30pm. He said that he had gone round to see Peter Rasini at his house to sell him some antiques. His friend later said that he thought that lately Peter Rasini had had something on his mind but said that he used to keep himself to himself and didn't give him any indication of what it was.

Shortly after, at about 7.30pm, Peter Rasini left his house to go and see a friend in Kentish Town, which was not far away, leaving his daughter and niece at home to watch television.

A blue van was later seen that night in Oak Tree Road at about 9pm.

When Peter Rasini later returned just after 9pm, he parked in his usual spot just around the corner from his house. However, as he went up the path to his house, he was shot. Four shots were heard. When his daughter went out she saw a man running off down River Avenue. She said that the man was about 6ft tall, heavily built, and dressed in a bomber jacket and had hard heeled shoes.

The man that was seen to run off was then seen by some other witnesses going into Oak Tree Road and head towards the van that was parked there. The witnesses that saw him described him additionally as being about 40 to 50 years old, panting, and obviously unused to running. The van then set off without its lights on and then turned right and sped off along Green Lane.

The police said that when they carried out their investigation into Peter Rasini's murder they examined his business life and private life, but could find little to provide a motive, but did find that he was addicted to cocaine.

The police said that they looked into people that might have been supplying him with cocaine.

They also said that they found that Peter Rasini had not been too diligent in checking into the background of some of the property that he had bought, stating that in other words, they thought that he had been buying stolen property.

The police said that the murder weapon was a .45 calibre automatic pistol which was described as having a kick like a mule and as being almost unheard of as being a gun used in the UK for crime. The police said that there were only a couple of instances of such a gun being used in that manner in the last few decades. The police said that they were interested in hearing from anyone that had had such a weapon stolen from them or anyone in the underworld who knew of such a gun being sold around that time.

When the police gave the description of the gunman, they said that he was white, aged 40 to 50, over 6ft tall, heavily built, and possibly wearing a balaclava rolled up or a woolly hat.

The police said that they were interested in hearing from the people that had been with the white van on the Friday night if they were unconnected with the murder to rule them out.

The police said that they thought that the blue van that was seen nearby in the street on the following nights was possibly a Bedford Midi or something very similar.